Little Talks
by brookeb303
Summary: It's been a year since the team learned of the HYDRA betrayal, and Ward and Skye have barely spoken since. But when a mission goes awry and they end up handcuffed to each other, talking may be the only thing left to do. One-shot.


Anger eats away at you. It's like drinking poison, but expecting it to hurt the person you're angry at instead of yourself. Let go of the anger, and you'll be free. Let it go. Move on. Put the past away. Forgive.

Skye had heard every possible version of, "It's been six months of tense meetings and awkward silences. You need to get the hell over it." As if it were that easy.

They had learned of Ward's betrayal a year ago. In the first six months, he went through imprisonment, therapy, and lie detector tests. He passed every phase with flying colors. He was then allowed back on the Bus.

It was easy at first. Everyone hated him. Fitz was still in a coma, which fueled Simmons' anger. May was never allowed in a room alone with him because S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't trust her to not physically attack him. Trip hated him out of loyalty; he was one of us now, and Ward betrayed us, therefore he needed to fix things with us before Trip could forgive him. Coulson had either been the angriest or the least angry, Skye couldn't tell. He kept a mask on at all times, showing only professional emotions. He never spoke badly of Ward, but he also never looked him in the eyes or spoke directly to him.

Skye was sort of a combination of everyone's anger mixed with her hurt, which she kept locked away. She never looked at Ward, unless she was picturing punching him in the face. She never talked to him, unless it was an insult. Then when night came, and she was alone, the anger faded and the hurt seeped through as she thought of the secrets they shared, the laughs, the training sessions, the meals, the games, the kisses. Then she would either cry herself to sleep or drink herself to sleep, wake up, remind Ward of something awful he did, like pushing Fitzsimmons out of the plane or shooting Hand, and repeat the process. It had worked well for her.

Until about four months ago when Fitz woke up. Skye saw the changes coming; Trip asking Ward for fighting tips; Simmons cracking a smile at a joke Ward told; Fitz accepting Ward's apology and sitting with him during meals. Soon Coulson had his buddy back, and May had someone strong to fight beside again.

The only evidence that Ward had ever betrayed them lived in Skye. Her anger never faltered. The pain she felt from the hurt he caused her never let up. The past was an ocean and she was drowning in it.

Which is why Coulson had called her into his office that day. As she sat across from him at his desk, she could guess what was about to be said. She was a team player now, and her behavior was affecting the team. She felt dizzy and numb at the same time. She wasn't ready.

"It's time, Skye. He served his sentence, he's been cleared by every consultant we've thrown at him, and he's realized his wrongs and apologized for them."

Did the plane just shake, or was that just the weight on her shoulders pushing her around?

"So I'm supposed to just forget everything and be his best buddy again?" she asked quickly, hoping her sarcasm could mask the emotions that were threatening to spill out of her at any moment.

"You're supposed to talk to him," Coulson said in that way that made him sound less like a commanding officer and more like a caring relative. "We've all done it, and we're all better for it. I know you two went through a lot-"

Skye laughed once to let him know that that was putting it mildly.

"-but it's been almost a year. Your team is asking this of you."

She wanted ask him if he really thought she didn't want to do that. Did he really think she was enjoying isolating herself? Being angry with the one person she had cared about most? She was about to tell him that; that she wanted to forgive him just as badly as they wanted her to. But as soon as she opened her mouth…

"Sir, we're about to be under attack."

Ward was there. He was calm, despite the news he just broke. He always remained calm in these situations. Though, most of the time she'd seen him in these situations he had been secretly hoping the attack would be successful, making his job easier.

As if on cue, the plane shook, definitely this time.

"Who is it?" Coulson was on his feet in an instant, the caring relative gone and the commanding officer taking its place.

"May suspects it has something to do with the prisoner." He was referring to William Klesson, a man they had tracked down in Tibet. It seemed like an easy job. They had heard whispers of a man with supernatural powers. When they approached him, they had found he wasn't interested in help or using the powers for good. It was a "world domination" type of situation. So, they captured him and brought him in for questioning. The team had believed he was working alone. Now, it was clear that he wasn't.

"Skye, go to the interrogation room and watch him. No one gets in, no one gets out. Ward, take over in the control room."

They were all gone in an instant.

Skye ran until she got close to the interrogation room. She then pulled out an ICER and walked quietly to the room, listening carefully for any unusual sounds. When she saw that the door was open, however, she didn't need to hear any confirmation that something was wrong. Sure enough, as she walked inside, she found the room to be empty.

"Damn it."

She realized her mistake as soon as she made it. Within a second, two masked gunman were on her. She had been training harder than ever since last year's betrayal, and was able to hit one of the men in the temple with the back of her gun. In the process, the other man kicked her hard in the ribs and sent her flying. The other one had recovered from his head injury and grabbed her by the hair, slamming her head onto the table while he slapped a handcuff on her wrist. She reacted before he was able to grab her other wrist with a kick to the groin and an elbow in his stomach. Just as she turned to deal with the other man, she noticed he wasn't there.

Ward was. She was more than a little disoriented from the throbbing in her head, but it was definitely Ward.

He had the other man pinned to the ground as he repeatedly punched him in the face. And now the second masked man was grabbing him from behind while the other one got to his feet, spitting out blood and cursing.

Everything was happening so slowly, and there was a haze surrounding everyone, but Skye ignored all of that, mustered all of her strength, and tackled the man who had Ward. Just as she collided with him, everything seemed to change. There was a loud bang, she felt a pull, and suddenly she was flung backwards and on the ground next to Ward, whom had just been knocked out by the ICER that had fallen from her grasp when she was kicked in the ribs.

She felt someone moving her hand, heard a jingle, and then everything went dark.

Ward wasn't sure how long it had been. There weren't any windows in the interrogation room, but he knew he had been hit with the ICER and the affects of that lasted a few hours. His eyes first moved to the door, which was shut all the way, which meant he was locked inside.

He slowly sat up, groaning at the pain in his head and the taste of blood in his mouth. When he tried to rub his eye, where he suspected there was a dark bruise forming, he noticed his arm felt heavier than usual. He then noticed there was a person handcuffed to it.

Skye.

She was already beginning to stir, but his sigh made her jolt awake as she remembered where she was and what had happened. She sat up quickly and tried to back away from him, sighing when she saw their cuffed wrists and then groaning and grabbing her ribs. Ward resisted the urge to ask if she was okay. He watched as she looked to the door, and then her face fell just as his had.

"What happened?"

"We were beaten."

"Why _we_? What were you even doing here?" she demanded. She was getting some strength back judging by her tone.

"Coulson ordered me to the control room, which I went to and cleared out, but I heard you scream." He didn't want to have to explain this to her. It sounded idiotic even to him. What should it matter if he heard a scream? Their Bus was under attack. Screams were common.

Skye clumsily got to her feet, thus dragging him up with her. "So?" She tried to cross her arms but failed when she remembered the cuffs.

"So, I just saved your life." He glared at her, annoyed with how ungrateful she was. She may have hated him, but he deserved thanks.

"It's not your job to save my life anymore," she spat.

"I'm a member of this team. It absolutely is my job to keep you alive."

"You have never been a member of this team."

She was on her tiptoes now, trying to decrease their height difference and be equals. She still looked small to him though, perhaps especially when she was angry.

"Yeah, you're right Skye. One mistake should decide whether someone is on this team or not. By the way, how is Miles doing?"

She shoved him, hard. "I was new here when that happened." She pushed him again. "I had no real allegiances. I didn't even know what that was back then."

"I met Garrett when I was just a kid. You're an adult now, and you still make mistakes."

She opened her mouth to respond but then closed it. She tapped her foot and looked around, unsure of what to say. Then, in one quick motion, she punched him in the face.

"Jesus, Skye," he said as he held his nose, making sure it wasn't broken as blood spilled out. "You don't talk to me for months and now you just punch me in the face?"

"I've been wanting to do that for a while. Don't talk to me about teams or mistakes ever again."

"How about we just don't talk at all?"

Ward needed her to know that he had been on their team for so long. He had forgotten whose side he was on quite often, only remembering when Garrett contacted him. He had never meant for anyone to get hurt. They were his friends.

He wanted to tell her all of that and more, but instead he clenched his jaw and sat down with his back against the wall. Skye, without much of a choice, followed.

And the two sat in silence.

Hours went by, and neither said a word to the other. Ward could practically hear all of the terrible things she was thinking about him. He didn't need to look over to see how angry she was with him. Ward wasn't exactly walking on air, either. He silently cursed her for her attitude, sometimes even wishing he hadn't come here at all today to save her life.

And so the silence dragged on. Time stood still, the way it did during a mission. The outside world no longer existed, just the problem in front of him and the thoughts in his head.

As it often did, eventually the silence became too much to bear. Ward needed to say something, anything. He figured if he gave it too much thought, he would change his mind, so he just went with the first thing that came to him.

"Skye, it's been so long. Would an apology even help at this point?"

"I think the only thing that can help your nose is ice."

"You know what I mean."

She laughed sarcastically. "You and your apology can go to hell."

"See, how are we supposed to get anywhere when you won't even give me a chance? You put up this wall and made it impossible for me to get over it."

"Oh, poor Ward," Skye said without missing a beat. "Everyone is so _unfair_ to you. I'm being _so mean. _You deserve so much…"

He stopped listening. Well, he tried to. He tried to think of anything else as she babbled on, mocking him and laughing at herself. He deserved it; of course he knew that. But, God, she was infuriating. He let her continue, though. It was the most she had said to him in a year.

Eventually the familiar silence set back in. Skye tried to move away from him, huffing and rolling her eyes as the handcuffs pulled her back to him. He sighed. "Whether it makes a difference or not, would you at least give me the chance to apologize?"

"You don't think it would make a difference?" she challenged.

"I think actions mean more to you than words."

"Give me your best, then. And if you start spewing crap about loyalty and honor I swear I will punch you."

He wasn't expecting that. She wasn't either; she just wanted to test him. Regardless, he turned to face her as she stared ahead. He figured whatever he came up with would at least be sincere, since he had no time to plan his words.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I'm sorry for… probably more than you'll ever know. I'm sorry for hating you when we first met because you were compromising my plans. I'm sorry that during our training sessions I was secretly training you for a mission you didn't even know about at the time, the inevitable one verses Garrett, and for rooting against you in my mind. I'm sorry… I'm sorry for sleeping with May. I know that doesn't affect you immediately, and maybe I'm not even sure why I feel like I should apologize for that, but I'm still sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't one hundred percent sure that the fault Fitzsimmons was in would float, and for pushing the button anyway. I'm sorry for laughing with you and kissing you and protecting you when I had no right to. I'm sorry for tricking you. I'm just… I'm sorry."

Ward was almost breathless from his rant. He was sure he'd embarrassed himself, made himself look vulnerable and dumb, but he was glad he'd said it all. He looked away from Skye after so much time had gone by that he assumed she was just going to ignore him.

"What about for the other thing?" she asked so quietly he had to turn his head back to her to make sure she had said anything at all. She finally returned his stare. "The thing neither of us wants to say out loud."

He leaned his head back against the wall. He knew what she was talking about immediately. "You weren't supposed to get hurt. Garrett knew you'd be a threat from the start because of my feelings for you, and that angered him, but he promised no one would lay a hand on you. I now know that promise was only made so that I would continue trusting him, but at the time I thought he genuinely cared. So when you got shot… it shook my world up. So many promises were broken, your life was hanging in the balance…. And it was all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten you involved. I shouldn't have asked Garrett to grant you special treatment. I just, I should have done everything differently." He paused to take a deep breath and will himself to say the next difficult words. "I am so, so sorry that you were shot. I'm sorry I didn't guard you. I'm sorry you were even involved."

Skye simply nodded. She didn't make a joke, nor did she accept his apology. But, most importantly, she didn't deny it either.

"You know, when I was in the foster care system, being tossed around from family to family with no one to ever really love me, if someone had come to me and offered me guidance and protection and welcomed me into their world… well, I don't think I would have turned them away, either."

There was only one place she could have learned how he had come to work beside Garrett. "Ah, so you read the transcripts from my therapy sessions. I thought they were supposed to be confidential, but I guess I'm not really in the position to have any control over that."

"They are confidential, I just, I thought maybe if I could see them, it might help me understand better."

"So…you…"

"I hacked into your files, okay?!" she laughed, and all his anger from the entire day dissipated as he laughed with her. Hell, she could _sit in_ on his therapy sessions if it would just make her laugh like that.

All too soon it was over though. "I still have a lot of questions."

"Let's go then. Lightening round."

She thought for a moment and then fired one at him. "How did you feel when Garrett died?"

"Devastated at first, free now."

"Do you regret any of it?"

"Almost all of it."

"Almost?"

"If I hadn't done some things, I wouldn't have met you guys. So I can't regret it all."

"Would you have hurt me to get information?"

He felt like he'd just gotten punched in the gut. Of course he wouldn't. He wanted to scream that at her, yell that he would rather die than hurt her, shout that even the thought of her being afraid of him, of thinking he could do something like that, was enough to make him go insane. Instead he swallowed his words and simply said, "_No_."

"Would you have let them hurt me to get information?"

"No."

"What were you thinking when you let Fitzsimmons drop from the Bus?"

"I was thinking…" He closed his eyes and thought back to that moment, hearing them plead with him, his heart racing in his ears, tears threatening to come as he debated what to do. "It'll be fine. It will float, and they will be smart enough to save themselves. They can do this. You can do this."

"I figured that. Even with how angry I was with you, how much I hated you, or whatever may have happened between us, I knew you never wanted to hurt them."

"Do all those past tenses mean you forgive me?"

Skye sighed. "It means… Sometimes I can look at you now without wanting to punch you in face." When he looked over at her she was trying to bite back a smile and failing.

"I can work with that."

Right at that moment, the door burst open and Coulson and May walked in. Skye and Ward scrambled to their feet.

Ward had almost forgotten about the danger that was here a few hours ago, but the pain that rushed to his head and Skye holding her ribs reminded him. What had been happening on the other side of the wall? He wondered if there had been carnage, which side had won, if anyone had a damn key. But suddenly he was at ease when he saw Coulson's smile. Even May, with her stiff shoulders and arms tensely crossed across her chest, had the ghost of a grin.

"Everything is fine," he started, putting his hands out to calm them. "Well, if you don't take into consideration that we lost our prisoner. But we've been heading in the direction he's in for a while now, and we should be arriving shortly to retrieve him."

"A while?" Skye and Ward asked at the same time.

"You two were finally speaking, and there wasn't much for you to do out here while we traveled so we figured we'd let you at least wrap up your conversation before bailing you out."

That didn't seem fair to Ward, but he knew it wasn't his place to call out his leader. He was on thin enough ice already. Luckily, Skye wasn't.

"So you just kept us locked up in here like prisoners for hours? While I could have been on my computer?! I didn't even have my phone with me, AC!"

Or, maybe Skye was angrier about other things. Still though, it was the first time he'd seen her joke around in a long time, even with people who weren't him.

"I trust you two are on better terms now?" he said with a smile. Ward nodded and Skye saluted him. "Well then, I hereby release you from your bounds!" He motioned to May to unlock them as he started to leave. "Unfortunately that means it's time to get back to work. Meet in the command center in two minutes. Er," he paused as he took in their injuries. "Get yourselves fixed up first." And he was gone.

May sauntered over looking amused by their situation. Well, as much as May ever showed amusement for things. She gave them both one more look, like a warning to behave themselves from now on or something, and unlocked the handcuffs. She left quietly, leaving the door open behind her.

"So," Ward said as he stepped back from Skye, simply because now he was able to, "Now that we're free are you gonna go back to hating me?"

She pretended to consider it. "Nah, that wasn't very fun. I think you've served your time."

"Aw, being handcuffed to you wasn't so bad," he joked.

She playfully kicked him. "It's going to take more time, you know. But… I don't know, maybe… maybe someday we can get a drink."

He smiled and followed her out of the room.

It wasn't perfect; perhaps it never would be, but it was a start. And that was enough for him.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! This was my first time writing for these two so I hope it was okay. I just felt like before Skye and Ward could really begin to move on and get back to the place they once were, there would need to be a heavy conversation first. So yeah, feel free to leave a review and stuff!**


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